O.S.M. and Friends

Ruins

A. Ruins of Tiller’s Church
A large monastery and church dedicated to Jahnnaina the church was founded by a group of pilgrims seeking to expand farming into the fertile valley of the Splint Hills. This church was famous for a statue of an ox and ploughman (The Tiller) of Thaeten origin recover from a cave not far from the site of the church. The church was sacked 20 year ago when Everon’s forces swept north through the region and the pilgrims were slaughtered.

1. Lore and Legends
The pilgrims had a great treasury buried deep in a secret cave in the Splint hills, a map exist, and it includes a clue to opening the magical vault.
2. The pilgrims were punished by the Gods for making sacrifices to the Primal spirits to grow their crops instead of hard work and dedication.
3. The Tiller Statue was removed by Everon’s troops to move to Lakehaven as it magic allows them to grow crops even under the constant fog.
4. The leader of the pilgrims was called Father John, but he was actually a very wealthy nobleman, you could see his signet ring on a chain under his simple robes. That ring would entitle the bearer to a fortune of unclaimed Merchant Bonds back East.
5. The pilgrims were not slain, much worse they were taken up north to work the iron mines in Lakehaven.
6. If someone could recover the Tiller Statue surely the church would pay handsomely for its return, of course moving it would be next to impossible and who knows if it is even still in the church.
7. The spirits of the restless dead are thick in the church, it is suicide to venture into the grounds after dark.
8. Devil worshipers now inhabit the church sacrificing virgin they seduce from the farms just over the Nolan.

B. Messengers Bridge
Suspended between two steep valley walls this bridge was built over 2000 years ago by the Thaetens. It is adorned with numerous statues dedicated to Morin and specifically the divined winged messengers associated with him. The bridge was maintained by dedicated followers of Morin until Everon made travel west of the Nolan to dangerous.

Lore and Legends
1. The bridge is haunted by a priest of Moran who was tortured to death by Everon’s forces.
2. Bandits use the bridge to waylay anyone foolish enough to use it, plenty still try as it’s the only way across the river for many miles
3. The toll to cross the bridge was kept in a special vault under the river, no chance any of them orcs figured out how to get into it.
4. The bridge has a fountain blessed by Morin that grants horses amazing speed and stamina if they drink from it.
5. In Thaeten times youth used to jump from the center span of the bridge to prove their bravery.
6. The bridge was built specifically to trap a river spirit under its span, if the holy relics were removed from the bridge the spirit would be set free.

C. Ruins of Riverwatch
The keep built by the Grey Legion to protect the strategically convergence of the Pine and The Wolves run rivers was meant to form the anchor of expansion of civilization along the Pine River. Only a few small farms ever occupied this land and only a minimal garrison was stationed at Riverwatch. Everon’s forces were unable to break the keep in siege, but the keep was abandoned after the Legion counter sieged the keep to free it’s men.

Lore and Legends
1. A warlock loyal to Everon resides in the keep and he will soon claim Reavespoint as his own like Everon did with Lakehaven.
2. The whole garrison at Riverwatch was killed by foul magic during the siege then reanimated by a High Priest of Orcus, but the Arden Council claimed they were rescued to save face with the populace.
3. A secret entrance to Riverwatch used by the Owls allows access from the shores of the Pine to the extensive dungeons under the keep.
4. The Garrison commander hurled the keeps payroll chest off the parapets into the Pine River to keep them from being captured by Everon. They still sit three fathoms down ripe for the picking.
5. A Grey Legion Necromancer (they don’t talk about it, but the Grey Legion has used dark magic since Kryton Longshadow) animated the whole crypt of Riverwatch and the dead greenskins who died sieging it to boot as a nasty surprise when Everon came back.
6. There is a watchtower not far from keep that the Owls still use. It’s a safe place to camp as the orcs and bandits avoid it look for the carving of three stars near its door.
7. The keeps wizard had a cloak that could turn the wearer into any animal they desired, he died defending the keep and the cloak was never found.

D. Shrine of the Moon
Built by the Thaetens this is a small shrine dedicated to the worship of the primal goddess of the moon Selene. The temple is a small pillared dome built in a small clearing. Rumors say a semi-secret all female cult called the Moon Daughters worshiped Selene at the temple on the full moon until they mysteriously disappeared 30 years ago.

Lore and Legends
1. Helna the only daughter of a prominent Greenskeys family of Bridgespan was one of those that disappeared 30 years ago. She was known for her expensive tastes in jewelry.
2. The Moon Daughters were led by an elven maiden of exceptional beauty, said to be the runaway daughter of the Elf Queen herself.
3. The Thaetens build the temple around the original standing stones put up long before the Gods battled the Primal spirits.
4. A ghost dwells in the temple and can be seen under the light of a full moon, some say she claims vengeance others that she wants only a proper burial for her body.
5. Orcs captured the cultist to use for…well best not said.
6. The cult was dedicated to a dark primal being and not the peaceful moon goddess. They committed ritual suicide to bring that being into the world, it now stalks the countryside on nights of the full moon killing sheep and men.
7. The Moon Daughters had a solid silver statue of their goddess in the cave beneath the temple.
8. The Moon Daughters opened a magical portal that allowed them to transport themselves to a place beyond the stars.

E. Ruins of Firen’s Keep
60 Years Ago an eastern Knight, Sir Firen, cleared a swath of land along the Imperial road and claimed it as a vassalage and built a small hilltop keep. A small village of farmers lured by the lower socage offered by Sir Firen soon sprang up. The Keep was sieged and captured by Everon’s forces, but quickly counter-sieged by the Grey Legion who routed Everon’s forces.

Lore and Legends
1. Sir Firen’s family treasure is still hidden in the keep, but is guarded by a powerful magic guardian in a secret chamber accessible only through a magical portal.
2. Sir Firen’s eldest daughter was a witch and betrayed her family to Everon’s forces, she still lives in Lakehaven as one of his concubine apprentices.
3. The keep was Nicknamed Firen’s Folly, as he squandered his wealth and went into debt trying to create his own vassalage. The best thing that happened to the Firen family was the keep getting sacked.
4. A tribe of Mountain Orcs has taken up roost in Firen’s Folly after they got exiled from their tribe in an attempted coup.
5. The Grey Legion still uses Firen’s Keep to conduct necromantic experiments on prisoners of the state.
6. The keep was purposely built in a dead magic zone to aid in the defense.
7. Sir Firen grandson is still the lord of the lands granted by the Arden Council, but he serves as a lieutenant in the Grey Legion (Mauldin’s Marauders) he has tried to sell the deed several times but no one has taken him up on the offer.

F. The Faun Steps
Three standing stones sit on a raised stone platform of three stone steps at the crest of a hill. The Stones are arranged that the eastern stone shows a sunrise, the northern middle stone a moon, and the western stone a sunset. The stones are weathered but dancing fauns can be seen carved on the stones.

Lore and Legends: You are creating them first hand, probably something to do with worms…

G. Lost Temple of Imbrindrala
A Temple dedicated to a corrupt nature spirit known as the “Bride of Orcus”. The cult of Imbrindrala was destroyed by the Order of the Crimson Sun about 130 years ago. The main temple stood far from civilization, but the cult was responsible for several atrocities in Reavespoint and the surrounding area in its day.

Lore and Legends
1. The Cult of Imbrindrala was funded by a wealthy noble whose wealth still rests in the temple never found by the Crimson Sun.
2. ¬The leader of the Temple was a wizard of great power and one of his spell books was never found.
3. The entrance to this temple can only be opened by making a blood sacrifice.
4. The Crimson Sun didn’t kill the cultist it simply barricaded them in and waited for them to starve.
5. The temple was completely destroyed by a war wizard who collapsed the walls nothing worth looting was left by the greedy legionnaires.
6. The cult wasn’t destroyed they want the Crimson Sun to believe, they were but they are still active they just keep a lower profile now they are east of the river.
7. The Cult was nothing to do with Orcus, it was a druid circle blamed for some dead livestock by a superstitious peasant and the Crimson Sun slaughtered them for nothing.

H. Tower of Lead
The Tower was built 300 years ago by a secretive enchanter (Nerum or Herum depending on who you ask) who built it soon after the Grey Legion retook the lands. The tower sits on a small hill in the Tangled Woods, rising above the trees and takes its name from a layer of melted lead covering the tower. Numerous rumors exist about the tower, most agree Nerum (or Herum) covered the tower in lead plates for protection and these were melted, but how the plates melted has many explanations; a dragon, a wizards dual, an experiment gone wrong that opened a portal to the plane of fire, etc.

Lore and Legends
1. Nerum was entombed in the tower by powerful magic, if he could be released he we reward his saviors handsomely.
2. Adventures have ransacked the tower numerous times in the past 100 years, not a copper of treasure remains in the place.
3. Kryton Longshadow visited the tower looking for magical treasure and found a secret tome owned by Nerum full of Thaeten Rituals and powerful Necromancy.
4. The Wizard who built the tower was an outcast from the East who trafficked with Devils and Demons in a mad quest for power.
5. The ghost of the Wizard still haunts the tower, but it can be made agreeable with bribes of gems and will share arcane knowledge.
6. The tower was built over a natural cavern and a huge hot spring, the wizard was trying to harness the power of the spring for some planar experiment.

I. Pillar Falls
The Drinen River falls about 30 feet over carved rockface between two 40 foot pillars topped with weathered statues. The falls reputably marked the entrance to an underground tunnel called the “Path of the Dead” that leads to a sacred underground burial site of the Thaetens. A nasty giant troll now lairs under the falls killing anyone foolish enough to disturbed it. The fisher folk of Winthrop call this troll Ole Glunch and avoid the falls.

Lore and Legends
1. About a year ago Sir Ostin of Thinsport a knight of the Nine Kingdoms and his squire sought to slay the troll, they never returned and neither did Sir Ostin’s magical sword that could burst into flames on demand.
2. Old Glunch was placed in the cave by Everon to guard the entrance as it leads to his southern treasure vault.
3. The cavern behind the falls is filled with the burial treasure of the Thaetens, but they set magical barriers and even bound demonic guardians to keep it safe, if it was easy to get to someone would have done it by now.
4. Old Gulch can talk he will even share information for a good meal, he favorite is plump piglets.
5. The two pillars flanking the falls are carved with magical ruins that would serve as a map to the tunnels.
The Fisherman have seen “men” about the falls over the last few months creeping near the pillars, something is amiss.

J. The Silent City
The Thaeten city of Torinzal sits in ruins, overgrown with weeds and trees. Only a few buildings still stand, most notably a large arena once used for gladiatorial combat and other public spectacle and a former cathedral. Torinzal was destroyed over 500 years ago, one of the first casualties of the Thaeten succession crisis. The ruins of the city sits on a cliff about 70 feet above the lake.

Lore and Legends
1. The city is called the silent city because birds and animals avoid it because a curse was laid on the city.
2. About two years ago a priest of Woradin prophesized that he was given a holy crusade to rebuild the ruins of the cathedral of Woradin that lies within the city. He gathered a score of followers and headed off to the Silent City. None of his band ever returned.
3. The Thaeten fisherman who worked the lake built homes directly into the rock face at the base of the cliff. At least two tunnels lead from the lake to the surface of the city. One of these is claimed by a band of outcast orcs from the Drinen Valley.
4. A score of demon worshiping outcast live in the city, these men and women practice cannibalism and human sacrifice.
5. The Grey Legion recently sent soldiers disguised as mercenary treasure hunters into the ruins of Torinzal led by an Owl and with at least one war wizard, they were tightlipped about what they were looking for. No one saw the come out, but the Owl might have lead them home on the west bank of the Nollan.
6. At least one pack of displacer beasts roams the ruins, their pelt are worth a good sum, at least 1,000 Gold for a hunter brave enough to slay one.

K. Ruins of Gillenguard
A keep was built here by the Grey Legion during the initial conquest of the Nolan River Valley, but was abandoned once the Silverway became the main trade route. At least twice the keep has been given to a Knight by official appointment from the Arden Council, but each of these attempts to form a profitable fiefdom has failed.

Lore and Legends
1. The bandit Red Jack was holed up in Gillenguard before the Owls caught him, his treasure couldn’t have been far from the Keep, probably buried in a meadow.
2. A band of evil dwarves has taken up resident in the keep, up to no good for sure.
3. A manticore has been seen flying near the ruins, the hunter didn’t stick around long enough to see if it was laired in the keep or not.
4. Gillenguard is said to have a magical portal that connects it to Arden if one knows the command word.
5. A secret passage under the keep leads all the way to the lake following a underground stream a Thaeten temple dedicated to a dark primal spirit lies somewhere along the stream.
6. The Halfling caravans use an area near Gillenguard for a special fair that deals exclusively in stolen goods and illegal items.

L. Ruins of Highwall Keep
In Thaeten times a wall was built at the narrowest part of the valley. It was topped with war engines to prevent the raids of the giant clans that dwelled deep in the mountains. The keep was destroyed during fall of the Thaeten Empire.

1. The giant clans have been seen in the valley again, it’s only a matter of time before they decide to raid Grenval.
2. Something has claimed a few brave souls that enter the keep, others report nothing but dust and rock, the bodies of those lost are never found.
3. Kryton Longshadow rebuilt a small part of the keep as he spent two summers there conducting some sort of research.
4. The keep is abandoned but the Owls have an outpost somewhere in the valley to keep an eye on the ruins.
5. The Keep was an important trading post during the latter part of Thaeten times with mountain barbarians trading furs and silver for weapons and civilized goods. A few brave merchants will still make the trek thru the pass as profit margins are huge.